Understudy
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: [AU] Their class is holding a play for the Autumn Festival. Yuujin is a shoe-in for the lead, and Haru signs up to help write the script because what else can he do? But then names come out of the hat and he's the main character in a story he's not allowed to write, and Yuujin seems to have an ulterior motive for letting it all pan out.
1. Sign-Ups

**A/N:** Written for

Mega-Prompts Challenge, dialogue prompt #083 - "I didn't sign up for this."  
Becoming the Tamer King Challenge, Training Peak task  
Digimon bingo, the non-flash version, #208 – athlete  
Digimon Dawn/Dusk Remake Challenge, part 1c.2b - write a fic over 2000 words and include the sun or fire as a strong motif

* * *

 **Understudy  
** _1\. Sign-ups_

We stare at the sign-up sheet together. Yuujin's got his usual grin. Mine's probably more contemplative. There are just so many choices. So many characters. And then the people who make the story a reality from behind the scenes.

Of all of them, which one would be best for me?

The rest of the class has drifted off already: after-school clubs, home… But I'd waited for Yuujin to finish with the soccer club and now we're here.

Yuujin has a way of making things happen when I would've been thinking till the sun went down.

'So what do you think?' Yuujin asks.

'I'm kind of excited,' I admit… but really, he knows me well enough to not need to, 'but I don't know. We've got no idea what sort of play we're signing up for.'

'But that's the fun in it.'

For Yuujin maybe, who is spontaneous and fun and the lead player in no matter what he faces. But me… 'You're auditioning, right?'

'Of course. And you?'

I hum. There are the leads, the support characters, the minors… and then the backstage crew. I'm. no lead, but I don't think I want a minor role either. That's too… inadequate.

'I don't know,' Yuujin teases. 'You've been forgotten on library trips plenty of times.' Which is my own fault, really, for finding an interesting book and curling up with it, forgetting I need to keep an eye on the rest of the class.

But still, I don't want to spend the festival reading a book. Unless I've got a book I can't put down on the day… but that's beside the point.

'Support and backstage,' Yuujin summarises.

Sounds like a plan to me. I scrawl my name under both those lists, then hands the pen to Yuujin and turns away to stretch.

Yuujin signs up for everything, by the sounds of the pen scratching away.


	2. Auditions

**Understudy**  
 _2\. Auditions_

Yuujin isn't generally the sneaky type. He's straightforward. He'll say what he wants and what he means, and sometimes it's more than others can handle. But the way he says what he means is one of the things I love about him. He sees me so clearly… especially when my own vision of myself is so murky.

But when the finalised list is on the whiteboard and our homeroom teacher reads my name as one of those who'd made it through to lead character auditions, and I've cried out in surprise – 'I didn't sign up for this!' – and been pointed out that, yes, my name is written there both on the finalised lists and the original sign up sheets… I can only stare at Yuujin's back and wonder why he didn't just say he wanted me to sign up for a lead role, instead of signing me up behind my back.

Because who else would do that? We were probably the last ones to sign up… But even if we weren't, who'd want someone else as potential competition when vying for the role? Yuujin though… He's my friend. Still, I don't know what he was thinking, why he didn't just talk to me first.

And the way he hasn't joined in the chatter that's erupted once the audition lists are announced (and I wasn't even listening to the rest of it, so I don't know of Yuujin is on the list himself or not) just increases my suspicion.

He's always joked about how he can feel the weight of my gaze… _So Yuujin, why haven't you said anything? Still._


	3. The Assigned Roles

**Understudy**  
 _3\. The Assigned Roles_

'Congrats.'

It's stilted. The perfunctory congratulations you give your opponent when they beat you. Yuujin's had a lot of practice, from soccer… But whenever he's said those words for me – even for the silliest things, like reading the most books in the school in a year – they've always been different. More heartfelt.

'Yuujiin…' And the way his name slips out is different, too. Like that lisp of a warning his teammates would have, even now.

Why? So quickly we're talking like we're near-strangers instead of friends.

'I'm sorry,' I say – the same time as him, so that our voices wind up overlapping.

Then Yuujin laughs and covers his face with a hand. 'Sorry,' he repeats. 'You've got no reason to be apologising, Haru.' And he holds up a hand when I try to explain just why I was apologising to him. 'No, listen. Otherwise we'll get side-tracked and I'll never explain. And I should have explained before. I know. But I didn't know how.'

I stare at him. Oozura Yuujin, at a loss for words? Granted, he doesn't always get the right message across but that's never been for a lack of –

Oh. That's what it was. I'd missed something he'd already told me before, huh.

'You're my lead character,' Yuujin repeats. He's smiling again… and that's good. That expression suits him far better. 'And I'll write you the perfect story.'

Huh. I'd missed that. 'You're writing the script?'

'One of the people writing the script,' he corrects. Which basically means he'll run the show, even if he doesn't mean to. He's charismatic like that, unless he overdoes it. But he's better at that now.

And I'm usually better at pushing myself a little, too. 'Still,' I say, 'you could have said something when I was signing up for supports.'


	4. Lead Players

**Understudy**  
 _4\. Lead Players_

I survive auditions, somehow. And it turns out Yuujin isn't auditioning. None of the script-writers are.

Yuujin is less awkward and more ecstatic once they post the audition results. 'You did it, Haru!'

That's a little nerve-wracking to hear… but also exhilarating. I'll be the lead character, for once. The one everyone's looking at. The one (or one of the few) the play hinges on. I'll have more lines to memorise (though that's not really a problem), more of the play to be involved with (also not a problem), and I'll be spending lots of time with the other lead character –

'You and Ai-chan will make the cutest couple!'

I choke on air. _Ai-chan?_ I mean, of all the girls, I'm glad it's her, but…

This is going to be so _awkward._ Ai-chan is so sweet, and she's a friend of ours too, and… 'Are you writing a _romance_ script?'

Why can't he pick a nice adventure script instead?

Ai is also hoping for an adventure script, she says when she catches up to us. She helps her grandfather at Kashiki books, and I get most of my hard copies from them.

The grin in Yuujin's eyes tells us he's planning something. 'There's an adventure plot,' he offers. With a romantic subplot, probably… Or maybe it's the other way around. Maybe we're re-enacting some old legend or fairy-tale… And there are plenty of interesting ones out there, but most of them involve the main characters falling in love and living happily ever after.

At least it's an junior high school play. There's no way the administration will let the writers get away with putting anything intimate like a kiss in the script, even if they try it.

Then I realise where my thoughts have gone. And why. 'Yuujin…' I start.

He claps me on the back. 'This is a golden opportunity. Enjoy it.'

 _You're not setting us up… are you?_


	5. The Pretty Damsel

**Understudy**  
 _5\. The Pretty Damsel_

Last year, I had a crush on Kashiki Ai. And why not? She's kind. She's someone I know. I see her more often than most of my classmates (except Yuujin). She gives me a discount on my books sometimes, for being a "loyal customer". And we talk. About books, mostly.

We're friends. Just like Watson and I, who talk mostly about video games (or books adapted into the video game universe, or vice versa).

That doesn't mean I'm interested in anything now. I like things how they are.

Yuujin would say I'm playing it safe. He'd tell me to test the waters, to push a little. Maybe he's doing that for me this time.

Still, something doesn't sit right.

It is a fairy tale. A western one called Sleeping Beauty which gives the both of us our own journeys to act out. It also means I don't have much to do at the beginning, but plays don't have to be rehearsed in order and as Ai is absent from the middle, we split into teams and divide and conquer the scenes. Still, there's the ending we need to practice together and Yuujin keeps on changing it. 'It doesn't sound right' or 'It doesn't quite have enough impact' or 'Come on, we can make it cuter, guys' –

And Ai and I are both a little bewildered, to be honest, even if we don't talk about it with each other. Ai has more tact than that, and it's too awkward for me to bring up. Maybe it's too awkward for her, as well.

It's never easy me for me to talk to anyone, Yuujin included. But usually, Yuujin knows what to say regardless. Even when he drags me along when I'm not completely comfortable, we're fine by the end. He has a plan, and he knows me well enough to know it'll end the right way…

But it's not often I can't figure out what he's thinking somewhere along the way. Yuujin who wears his heart on his sleeve and his words on his tongue, wanting to be behind the scenes for once and me in the spotlight and he's –

Wait. He didn't have anything to do with Ai being the female lead, did he? Maybe it had nothing to do with her at all.

 _Good job, Haru. The cliché protagonist getting distracted by the pretty girl…_

'Are you okay?' I jump. Ai is suddenly in front of me, peering at my face. 'You're a little red.'


	6. Plot-Twist

**Understudy**  
 _6\. Plot-Twist_

'Something's bothering you,' Yuujin says.

He's usually the one to initiate conversations, especially serious ones.

'Not bothering,' I correct. 'I just… I'm not sure what you're angle is.'

He laughs. 'You make it sound like I have an ulterior motive about something.'

'You do.' And I say it a little too flatly, maybe, because he stops laughing immediately. 'Ah, I don't mean anything bad by it, but when you signed me up for the main auditions, and when you worked with the script… I thought you were trying to set Ai-chan and I up, at first –'

Yuujin looks surprisingly startled at that.

No, not surprised. Shocked. Like that hadn't occurred to him. Like that was far away from what he'd actually been aiming for.

'Not anymore!' I hurry to placate him… Because it's weird, seeing Yuujin so off-foot, suddenly.

We don't keep secrets from each other, but still there are things that are hard to say, sometimes. I know that's a problem I've always had.

I guess I didn't really think that, sometimes, Yuujin would as well.

 _I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention._

Sure, I was distracted. The play. The stray dog we've officially adopted. The stuff that cropped up with Grandpa's death and opened up the cold case we thought had long since been laid to rest. But all of those are excuses, too. Yuujin's been by my side the whole time. There's no reason I shouldn't have been looking at him.

'You're in your head again,' Yuujin says quietly. 'You're words, when you put them out there, are amazing. But you just rarely do it.'

'So you say.' I can't help but smile at that. 'It takes two people to have a conversation, though. That involves me listening and looking… but you talking as well.'

He stares at me, and then lets out a bark-like laugh. 'Haru… I told you: you have a way with words.'

'That's a non-answer,' I scold. I'm pushing, gently. I'm looking. I know there's something. I still can't tell what, and I don't think I will unless he tells me or something happens.

He knows it too. Knows I'm pushing. Knows I've missed some hint he's given me.

Then he laughs again. 'I didn't do a good job of hiding it, did I? Or maybe you just know me too well.'

'I think you've done a good job,' I say, cocking my head. 'Because I really have no idea, if you're not trying to set me up with Ai-chan.'

'Oh god, no. She's nice and all but I won't hand you over to anyone –'

 _Oh._

Silence falls.


	7. The Final Act

**Understudy**  
 _7\. The Final Act_

Yuujin looks like he wants to take back his words, like I'm already walking away now that all the puzzle pieces have clicked together, like I've taken offence or been pushed a little too far…

Now that I think about it, we've never fought about anything. We just fit. And that's idealistic, but it won't last forever.

Not here though. Not about this. Though maybe I should be a little mad he's thinking that. Maybe I will be, later. But for now…

 _Oh Yuujin. This has really been eating at you, hasn't it._

And even though he still hasn't said it, I don't know what to reply. I can't even pretend to ask for clarification because the window for tactfully doing that has long passed.

The window for saying _anything_ tactfully has passed in that awkward, stilted silence.

Usually, Yuujin was the one who filled those silence.

 _I should say something…_

I swallow. My mouth has gotten dry while my thoughts had been swimming in my head. 'I don't have a crush on Ai-chan anymore,' I finally begin. And I might have been mortified saying that last year, but in this context…

Yuujin relaxes a little. 'I think I knew that,' he admits. 'Still, the play did throw you two together.'

'And you picked a romance plot,' I point out. 'That's not exactly subtle. You should have applied for the female lead.'

He stares at me a moment – and then I realise what I've suggested. 'Or the male lead,' I hurriedly correct. 'You're a better main character than –'

'You're my only main character,' Yuujin says firmly, and seriously. He's said it before, in various incarnations, but this time seems more loaded than all the others.

'You made it literal…' I shake my head; that's taking us off topic. 'We can both be main characters. Equals.'

He smiles at that. 'Not here,' he says.

'Not in the play,' I correct, 'but aside from that, what's different?'

Except I haven't answered the question he hasn't asked. I know that. He knows that as well. Maybe he's not even ready to ask it. I know I'm not ready to answer. I haven't thought about it at all, after all. Our relationship just… is. Friendship is the label others have put on it and I've never had a reason to consider more.

Yuujin seems to be thinking the same thing, because, quietly, he says: 'I'll ask, someday. But until then…'

'I'll answer someday,' I reply. 'But until then, we're the same as we've always been.'

Which isn't quite right, because now the possibility's been raised with both of us, but it's close enough.

Really, it just means we shouldn't just accept the words people use to describe us.


	8. Next Stage

**Understudy**  
 _8\. Next Stage_

The play is easier, now that I know there's no sneaky subplot about to catch me unawares. I am a lead character in a story Yuujin has written and guided behind the scenes and there's nothing more or less to it than that… Except the rest of the class and their involvement.

It winds up being pretty well put together, in the end. Nothing earth-shattering except the two quietest people in the class winding up as the leads, but neither of us are complete introverts so that's not as dramatic as it sounds. We just both prefer reading indoors to playing outdoors, but we're also both friends with Oozura Yuujin so we get dragged out to play more often than we'd have cared to otherwise.

We fall to pieces in the day-before rehearsal and pull off the perfect performance at the festival and that's exactly how it should go. There are a few boos from the older students when Ai-chan and I don't kiss in the ending scene, but then Ai-chan is swept away by Watson and I find Yuujin hanging around at the back of the crowd, and I can't help but wonder if that means there's something blossoming between Ai-chan and Watson…

Yuujin laughs when I say that out loud. 'Maybe,' he says. 'They'd be cute together, wouldn't they.'

'I remember you saying the same about _me_ and Ai-chan,' I point out. 'And I'm sure you were perfectly serious then, too.'

'Haru.' He's not smiling, suddenly, and that means he wants me to listen particularly closely. 'Same-sex couples may be accepted on paper in a good many countries nowadays, but that doesn't mean _people_ will accept it.'

'Same sex couples weren't legal not that long ago,' I reply. 'That doesn't mean people didn't accept it. And do you care?'

'A little. It does make things harder.'

'What are the main protagonists without a climax?' I ask.

He grins. 'Fair enough. You and I can be the main protagonists, this time. Though I guess we already are.'

'Next time,' I chide, 'no signing me up without telling me first. It was an experience to be sure, but we could have had a completely different play with two male leads, you know. It didn't have to be a romantic fairy tale.'

'…would you know, that didn't even occur to me?'

'And this is why I'm the creative one.'

We grin again. We haven't decided anything, really. But we're taking. We're getting closer.

Maybe we don't need to put words and labels and confirmations to it after all.


End file.
